“Quartz in the Valley” was the first song Kathleen Hanna and I worked on together. […] She said, “Listen to Wanda Jackson. Get inspired.” When Kathleen and I began collaborating, I was personally in a dark place, a lost place, and this song was how I started digging out. I don’t want to give too much away, to define the narrative exclusively; but I will say it began in a very raw, scrupulous way.

One day, I got out of bed at dawn, pulled on my overalls, and walked down to the river. I dug white quartz from the river banks, wheeled them up the hill, barrow after barrow, in a fever. The earth was giving me quartz for free, and I just had to find them. They had been waiting for me, all those years, to pry them out and set them free.

Fellow North Carolinian Alexis Bravos directed the video and said, “The video for ‘Quartz in the Valley’ is an intensely personal view into Heather’s world. I wanted to express the magical feeling of being there, watching her perform in her space which features Lou, the wonder dog.”